These Healthy Scotcheroos are made with real food ingredients like honey, brown rice, peanut butter + coconut oil (with no refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup)! They come together in minutes + are a very family friend + healthy twist on the classic, childhood dessert bar fave!
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I didn’t have my first scotcheroo until I was well into my 20’s + friends! WHAT WAS I MISSING?! I mean, we all know and love a brownie, a traditional rice krispy treat + they’re great. But in comparison with a scotcheroo? I mean, a chocolate chip cookie is almost boring. Traditional scotcheroos are made with butterscotch chips, chocolate + corn syrup + while delicious, not something I want to be adding in as a regular part of my diet. Enter these healthy scotcheroos:
This version of the much loved treat bar uses more whole food ingredients like honey, peanut butter, chocolate and brown rice to get that same insanely delicious flavour combo, but in a much more real food format. It’s the perfect treat for after dinner, an afternoon pick-me-up or to bring to a family get together!
The other best part of this treat? They’re so easy. Like, stir together in a few minutes easy. So, while the chocolate + peanut butter combo is the reason I love these, the ease is one of the reasons I actually keep making them.
What Makes these Scotcheroos Healthier?
Curious what makes these a healthier version of the traditional treat? It all comes down to ingredients. While I am never someone to demonize foods for the sake of labelling something “good or bad”, there are some ingredients that I just know aren’t really doing great things for my body + that I don’t need – things like corn syrup. And so, in these healthy scotcheroos, we’ve just left some of those things out, while keeping all of the flavour.
In the classic recipe, the crunchy layer of these bars is made with corn syrup, white sugar, peanut butter + rice cereal. I’ve simply swapped out the corn syrup + sugar for honey, which is a more unrefined option with the same delicious taste.
And even though scotcheroos tend to call for butterscotch chips in the chocolate topping, I promise the honey/pb combo from the base really does mimic that caramel flavour, which means we’re just going for dark chocolate + coconut oil for the topping! So much more simple + really packed with healthy scotcheroo taste.
How to Make Healthy Scotcheroos
- First, choose your pan! I used a 9×11, but you could also use a 9×13 for thinner bars or a 9×9 for thicker healthy scotcheroos – totally up to you and how many you want the recipe to make. To make the removal process easier, you can line the pan or spray with some cooking spray or rub it down with some coconut oil!
- To make the first layer, it’s as simple as mixing the honey, vanilla extract and peanut butter together. Once you have a thick, even mixture, add the crispy rice cereal and stir until every piece is coated. Once it’s mixed, pour into the baking dish and use a spoon or the back of a cup measure (or your hands) to really push down the rice cereal into one even, thin layer.
- For the top layer, simply add the chocolate and coconut oil into a microwave safe dish. Nuke in the microwave for 20-30 second intervals, stirring after each one. Once the oil and chocolate are all melted + smooth, pour over the top of the bottom layer.
- Swirl the pan or use a spatula to ease the chocolate over all of the base – you want it all evenly covered! Pop it into the freezer for an hour or two to chill!
- Once frozen, remove from the freezer and leave sit for 10-20 minutes before attempting to slice. Sprinkle with sea salt, slice an enjoy!
What Ingredients Can I Substitute?
Because this healthy scotcheroo recipe is so, so simple, there aren’t many substitutions to be made. But, since there are a few ways that you can make these your own, I’ll go ahead and note them below!
- peanut butter: you can totally swap this out for any other nut butter or even a seed butter if you have a nut allergy. The only note would be that what nut butter you choose is going to make a huge impact on the final taste of your scotcheroos. Peanut butter is for sure the most authentic to the traditional.
- honey: normally, you can swap out a liquid sweetener for another liquid sweetener in recipes. However, because the honey really is thick in texture, swapping for something like maple syrup will not result in the same finished product. Agave might be more successful, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t guarantee!
- brown rice cereal: I simply used puffed brown rice, but you can use any puffed rice or puffed rice cereal you prefer! You could also swap this out for something like gluten-free rice Chex if you aren’t able to find plain puffed rice.
- chocolate: feel free to use any version of chocolate for your topping – white, dark, milk, vegan!
- coconut oil: the coconut oil in the topping helps it to set in a solid, soft layer. Using refined coconut oil should ensure that there’s no coconut taste, but you can leave it out if you really aren’t into it, have an allergy or don’t have any!
How to Serve + Store Healthy Scotcheroos
How you choose to serve these is entirely up to you – you can chop these into hearty, filling, big ole bars or bite sized sweet squares depending on how many people you’re planning on serving these healthy scotcheroos to. I love to do a mix of both so that I have whatever I want when the craving strikes!
Storing: Once frozen + sliced, you can choose to keep these in either the fridge or the freezer! They’ll stay fresh in the fridge in an airtight container for a week, easy. I prefer to keep mine in the freezer so they keep for more like 3 months + I can grab a bar if I want one or 10 bars if some friends pop over. They really do thaw out in a few minutes + are perfection!
These healthy scotcheroos are the perfect, no bake snack. They are an amazingly sweet, but slightly healthier version of the caramely, chocolatey deliciousness that are these treat bars.
If you make these (you should), be sure to pop back + let me know what you think in the comments below – or come hang on instagram + share the snaps of your own creations 🙂
Other recipes you’ll love
- No Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
- No Bake Brownie Bites
- No Bake Samoa Cookie Bars
- No Bake Birthday Cake Bites
Healthy Scotcheroos
Ingredients
Base Layer
- 1 cup smooth, natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups puffed rice cereal
Top Layer
- 1 cup chopped dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- flaked sea salt** (optional)
Instructions
- Choose a pan for your scotcheroos! Nearly any pan size (from an 8×8 to a 9×13) will work, it will just change the size (a larger pan = thinner bars, a smaller pan = thicker bars) and the amount of bars in the finished product. Spray with a cooking spray, line or rub down your pan with coconut oil.
- To make the base layer, simply combine the peanut butter, vanilla and honey. Mix until combined and add the rice cereal. Stir everything together until the cereal is all evenly coated.
- Empty the base layer mixture into the prepared pan + press into one flat layer. You can use your hands, a spoon or even a cup measure to do this well.
- Next, add the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips to a bowl with the coconut oil. Heat in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for 20-30 second intervals, stirring between each until it's all melted.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the base layer. Either swirl the pan to ensure the topping evenly coats the bottom or spread out with a spoon or spatula.
- Pop the entire pan into the freezer for an hour or two to set!
- Once set, remove from the freezer + allow to thaw for 10-20 minutes before sprinkling with optional sea salt, slicing and serving!
Congratulations 👏🎉 Jessica and family for the newest addition to the group! Loving every minute of your wonderful goodness!! Please feel free to share some pics of newest baby. I’m excited for you all. 😃😇🧶🙌🙌😁👏🎉🥳🥳